


How the Times have Changed

by DelightfulDonuts



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes and the 21st Century, Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, Coming Out, Educating Steve Rogers, Homophobic Language, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Misunderstandings, Panic Attacks, Period-Typical Homophobia, Peter Parker Has Panic Attacks, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, SHIELD's failed education, Steve Rogers and the 21st Century, This really should have been involved in the "welcome to the 21-century" briefing.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:08:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27610475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DelightfulDonuts/pseuds/DelightfulDonuts
Summary: "What are you on about Buck, you can't just drag a child into our house because he is shouting across the street." Steve came closer and sighed, gently preening Peters capturer's metal fingers loose from Peters upper arm. No doubt that would leave a bruise."He was saying all kinds of things that would get him killed Steve, I couldn't just leave him there! You know what they do to people like u- like that!" The voice of the man who had been holding his arm - Buck?  - turned timid and small."You mean he..?" The Steve person asked warily. "He said that on the street?"Or:Peter's out doing Spiderman business when he gets interrupted by a confused supersoldier who only meant to help
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker
Comments: 1
Kudos: 221





	How the Times have Changed

**Author's Note:**

> This is set before Civil War, so Steve and Peter don't know each other yet
> 
> Trigger warning for homophobic language and panic attacks.

'And yet again, your friendly neighbourhood Spiderman saves the day' Peter thought as he swung down from the abandoned factory building on which he had been surveilling the city below him.

The day had been quiet so far, he was just planning on changing into his civilian clothes to walk home, when a small distressed voice caught his attention. If it wasn't for his superhearing, he might have not even heard it. 

An involuntary sigh escaped from his lips. The lasagna May had promised him would have to wait, even if Peters mouth watered by the mere thought of the delicious homemade feast that would be waiting on him when he got back home.

The sound was somewhat hard to locate (even with superhearing) because Peter was unfamiliar in this part of the city. He normally hung around in Queens exclusively, but in a feeble attempt to clear his mind, he decided to take the long way back from school this time. 

"I would consider your next move very, very carefully, man." Peter yelled at the attacker on his final descend, landing just a few feet away from where the scene was unfolding. It had all the features of your standard street robbery: two guys in dark clothing threatening a young lady, who would not let them get away as easily as the robbers had hoped. 

"Oh shit, Spiderman!" gasped the lady relieved, while still held tight in a stranglehold by one of the presumed robbers. At the same time, both robbers turned towards Peter in surprise, eyes widening with obvious fear.

This would be a piece of cake. Peters appearance alone would be enough to intimidate the criminals into giving the purse back and releasing the woman. They would scramble and run away as quick as they could. The lady would, although still in shock, thank him endlessly and promise she would go straight home. Easy. Peter had done this a thousand times.

Except it wasn't. The initial fear the robbers had shown almost instantly turned into matching smirks. "Oh thank god, I thought the police were here, but it's just the Spiderboy" Robber 1 snickered. His hold on the ladies throat tightened, making it harder for her to breath. The firm hold she had on the straps of her purse was weakening and robber 2's eyebrows twitched in anticipation. He was going to win.

"Dude, of all the Avengers they could have sent, they chose Bugboy, as if that child could ever stop us." Robber 2 flat out laughed. His posture loosened. 

Swallowing his initial surprise, Peter set to work. "Glad to make your acquaintance too, gentlemen." He said as he kicked robber 1 in the stomach, effectively forcing him against the wall where the webs Peter shot at him would certainly keep him calm for a while.

The lady had sagged to the ground, still clutching her purse tightly to her body, breathing ragged. 

"You think you can win, little faggot? Try me" Robber 2 exclaimed as he took on a battle stance, fists raised in front of him.

Peter rolled his eyes, jumped at the criminal and quickly took him down, pinning him to the ground with yet another batch of webs. He didn't care he had to break the culprit's nose in the process. 

"The webs should dissolve in two hours, till then, take some time to reflect on your actions. Oh and also, please don't drag my sexuality into this, I'm here on business." Peter sighed as he made his way over to the lady still sitting against the wall. Just as he crouched down to take a look at her sustained injuries, a hand grabbed his arm and yanked him away.

"Hey! Let me go!" Peter squeaked. 

"You absolute fucking idiot" a dark voice mumbled. Peter tried squirming loose from the iron grip the hand had on his arm, but it was a useless fight. Before he knew, he was being dragged through a door and into an elevator. Only there the hand loosened and he was able to fight himself free.

"Sir! Please don't kidnap me, I was only trying to save the lady, I never meant to hurt the guy, please let me go, call mister Stark, he'll give you as much money as you want, please let me go" Peter begged. He was starting to panic now, trying not to think of May and her lasagna and the inevitable worries he would bring upon her if he let himself be kidnapped now. 

The man behind him just grumbled, dragging him out of the elevator once they had reached the right level.

"Steve, get over here! Why didn't you tell me you had a son?!" The voice yelled across the room. 

A blond mop of hair peeked through the doorway at the and far side of the room. "Hmm? I don't have a son, what do you mean Buck?" 

"This idiot here, shouting all sorts on the street with no care who hears. Just like you did when you were still a 90-something little shit."

"What are you on about Buck, you can't just drag a child into our house because he is shouting across the street." Steve came closer and sighed, gently preening Peters capturer's metal fingers loose from Peters upper arm. No doubt that would leave a bruise. 

"He was saying all kinds of things that would get him killed Steve, I couldn't just leave him there! You know what they do to people like u- like that!" The voice of the man who had been holding his arm - Buck? - turned timid and small.

"You mean he..?" The Steve person asked warily. "He said that on the street?" 

Peter was still kind of confused about what was happening around him. Wasn't this a kidnapping? What were they talking about? Suddenly he realised that his arm was set free, and he bolted for the door. It didn't budge. 

"Let me go, please, open the door! I don't have any money, please don't steal my organs, I'm just a child." He cried, banging his hands on the door in a futile attempt to break it. After what felt like an hour, but must have been only minutes, he gave up and slid onto the floor, back to the door while sobbing uncontrollably, his mask abandoned by his side.

When the tears cleared from his vision and the crying slowed down, he raised his head to look at the two men in front of him. They were crouched down closeby and instead of looking angry, the looked worried. 

What the hell was going on?!

"Hold on, aren't you that Spiderkid? The one Stark has been talking about?" The dark-haired not-Steve said.

Did they know Tony? The motive behind this whole ordeal must be ransom then, or maybe blackmail? Getting on Tony's bad side was never a good idea. What if this went wrong, would they torture him? How long would they keep him, what if he died? He didn't want to die, please don't let me die. Peter's breathing got shallower and shallower and he started to panic, thinking about all the possible (terrible) outcomes this could have.

He was brought back to reality by a soft hand on his shoulder, but in his panic, he could only identify this as a threat, and he jerked away, curling further into a ball. 

"Oh no, I'm so sorry kid, I don't want to scare you. You are safe, we don't want to hurt you." The blonde man spoke in a soft voice, pulling his hand back to rest in his lap. 

"Why don't we take this to the living room, eh? Buck, would you make us some tea? Do you like tea kid?" The blonde - Steve? - asked. 

Unable to make his thoughts coherent, Peter let himself be led to the sofa in the room and found himself sitting there with a hot cup of tea in his hands, not long after. 

"So, um, sorry for that. Bucky meant well, but he has a bit of an unusual way of well, helping." The dark-haired man glared at the blonde. 

"I'm Steve" Steve said, extending his hand for a handshake. Peter glanced down at the hot cup of tea he was still holding, not trusting himself to let go, in fear he would spill all over himself.

"Oh right, sorry." Steve pulled his hand back. "This is Bucky" he nodded to the man sitting beside him.

"P-Peter" was all he managed to squeak out of his throat. 

"So, um, Bucky told me about what you said outside, and I just want to make sure you know, your secret is safe with us. We won't tell anyone, we won't hurt you. But you really shouldn't be saying things like that on the street. What if someone else had walked by? You must know what happens to people like you. Like that." Steve said.

Peter had no idea what the blonde was talking about. He tried to think back to what he had said during the fight with the robbers, but couldn't think of a single thing that would make the words Steve said make sense. 

The silence that had fallen upon the room was abruptly disturbed by the shrill noise of Peter's phone ringing. 

Before he even had the chance to pick it up, May's panicked voice echoed loudly through the room. "Peter?! Where are you? You were supposed to be home an hour ago! I called Ned but he hasn't seen you since school, and MJ hadn't seen you either, and it's been over an hour now and I'm really started to worry. I know we are working on boundaries but please tell me you are alive!"

Bucky stood dumbfounded in front of Peter, holding the telephone an arm's length away from him like it could blow up any second. 

Finally able to get his limbs to cooperate, Peter scrambled from the couch and snatched the phone from the dark-haired man. 

"Aunt May! Thank God you called! I'm so sorry I didn't come home but I was out doing Spiderman business and then all of a sudden this guy grabs me and drags me to his house and I thought I was being kidnapped but then they gave me a cup of tea and started talking about how I shouldn't have said what I said but I don't know what I did wrong and I am just very confused what's happening" Peter rambled into the phone, his voice close to breaking. 

"Oh Pete, calm down, take a deep breath, try not to get in a panic now! Can you hand the phone to the man?" May asked in a soft voice.

Almost dropping it, Peter handed the device to Bucky, who looked just as confused by it as the first time he held it and then handed it quickly over to Steve.

"Hello? Ma'am? This is Steve, I'm so sorry about all this, we were just trying to help." 

"I swear to God if you don't let my nephew go right this instant, there will be hell to pay. I'll call the police on you, you absolute psychopath! No, wait, even better, I'll call Tony Stark, you'll have no chance against him!" Even though he wasn't holding the phone, Peter could hear May's screaming loud and clear. 

"No, no ma'am please don't call the police, this is all just one big misunderstanding, we were just trying to help the kid, we thought he was going to get hurt!" Steve hastily explained, trying to calm the panic. 

"What do you mean you thought he could get hurt?! That doesn't mean you can just take someone into your house!!" May screamed.

"Miss, please calm down." Steve sighed, terrified eyes turning to Bucky, hoping he would know what to do. The latter just shrugged slightly, fidgeting with the coffee mug in his hands. 

The line went silent for a few seconds, followed by a sigh from both Steve and May. 

"Okay so, explain to me what you thought was going on please, and no more bullshit because this day has been nervewracking enough so far." May demanded.

"I'm so sorry ma'am, it's just, Bucky heard the kid yell dangerous things on the street and we know what can happen if you're not careful and we just wanted to help! I swear, I know this looks bad but we meant no harm!" Steve rambled. Bucky nodded encouragingly.

"Yelling dangerous things? What do you mean dangerous? He is spiderman for God's sake, that's the whole idea!" May was starting to get worked up again.

"No ma'am, I mean things about, well, how do I say this." Steve hesitated, unsure of whether it was wise to say tell this over the phone. Wasn't this the exact reason they took the kid of the street? To protect him and make sure no one would find out?

"Oh for fuck's sake, Steven." Bucky, who had been silent during the phone conversation, grabbed the blonde's wrist and yanked the phone towards himself.

"Ma'am, the kid declared he's a switch hitter, in broad daylight, in a busy part of town." Bucky sighed exasperated into the phone.

"A what?"

"You know, a gunsel, a queer." The last word was barely audible, Bucky's voice turned quiet and serious. 

An icy silence fell over the room. Peter looked back and forth between the two men who seemed to be getting more and more nervous. Steve was biting his lip, tapping his foot up and down and Bucky was back to fidgeting with the coffee mug, having let go of the blonde's wrist holding the telephone. 

A soft chuckle broke through the wall of nerves.

"That is what this has been about? Oh God, I can't believe I thought you were going to die. Well, anyway, seems like you can figure this out on your own, see you in a bit Pete"

And just like that, she was gone, and for a few seconds, the only sound that could be heard was the silent beeping of the phone.

"Wait, she knows?" Bucky frowned. "And she still talks to you?"

"Yeah, why? What's going on?" Peter asked confused, mind still hazy from the panic attack he had had less than half an hour ago. 

"But you're... and she... This doesn't make any sense! How are you still alive!" The confusing was quickly turning into frustration. 

"What? Why would I be dead?" This was by far the most confusing conversation Peter had ever had with anybody. 

Bucky frustratedly dropped his head in his hands.

"Hold on," Steve started, eyes narrowing, trying to make sense of it all. "You are queer, right? But you are not in danger? Even if you tell someone?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah but people don't actually say queer anymore, it's kind of offensive."

Steve nodded thoughtfully, considering everything carefully. Slowly, he turned towards Bucky.

"Buck, what if... I mean, it is the future, so many things have changed, why not this? This is what we always dreamed of." Steve said softly, voice laced with fear but also a hint of amazement. 

"Do you really think that could be true? We were always so careful Steve, we can't just give up now. How do we know for sure?" 

Okay so this is what this all was about, Peter finally understood. Still pretty weird that they didn't know all this already, but Peter just considered it another opportunity for Spiderman to save the day.

"Sir?" He asked carefully. "You know, it's okay to be gay yeah? I mean, there are still some assholes, but most people are cool about it. You don't have to hide it."

The look on Steve's face said it all.

-

It was almost two hours later when he finally left, leaving his phone number behind with the promise that he was always available if they had any questions. When he closed the door behind him he could just barely hear them.

"Wait, did he say Spiderman?"  
"He knows Tony?"

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently, gunsel & switch hitter were genuine terms for gay people, although the latter was used in the '70s, not the '30s. 
> 
> Also, yes, I did steal the "Steve, I didn't know you had a son" thingy from Twitter/Tumblr. If I can give credits, let me know.


End file.
